Spirited Away: Mystery of the Spirit Sense
by LibbyMay
Summary: It's been eight years since Chihiro left the spirit world. She and her friends are ghost hunters, trying to use modern technology to prove the existence of spirits. When they go to the house where a murder took place, they are chased into the spirit world by an evil entity. Chihiro has to help her friends get back home somehow. But something follows them. And what about Haku?


**A.N.-** So I'm trying out a new fandom here, though I've always loved _Spirited Away_. I've read quite a few fics already, many of them quite good, which have depicted how Chihiro would return to the spirit world, and to Haku of course. I figured I'd attempt my own foray. If anyone is confused about anything, I'll try to answer what questions I can without giving too much away. **Warning:** This fiction is rated M due to some violence, language, and sexual situations later on. Please don't read if you'll get offended by any of that.

Pairing is Chihiro x Haku

The House of Yoruko

A group of five teenagers sat under a tree at the park, with strange, scattered equipment surrounding them. There was a rather muscular young man by the name of Niko, who had been the captain of the football team while in high school. Then there was Sukumi, Niko's girlfriend, though her friends just called her Suki for short. Sitting next to her was her brother, Jetu and his best friend, a girl named Tarake. And finally, there was another girl, Chihiro.

"Are you sure your EMP detectors are working?" Suki was asking Niko.

"Of course I'm sure," he replied. "You know that not every place we go to will be haunted, right?"

"Yeah, but we've had our equipment fail before..." she pointed out.

"Equipment issues will happen, but I've been really good about checking it all out before we go hunting."

"What do you think, Chihiro?"

Chihiro had only been half paying attention to the conversation, for her mind had been elsewhere lately. It had been nine years since she'd gone to the spirit world, and she'd told no one of her adventure except for the four people sitting with her right now. They were her best friends and accomplices. They all also had something in common, a belief in spirits or ghosts. For years now, they had been hunting for proof of the existence of spirits, though Chihiro had serectly hoped that they would find another portal to that world she'd briefly been a part of. They had definitely all had encounters of the supernatural, but there was one supernatural being who hadn't shown his face yet, and Chihiro was beginning to wonder if he ever would. Perhaps Haku had gone somewhere else after she'd left. After all, he was no longer in Yubaba's control, so she might not have let him stay at the bathhouse. "Earth to Chihiro!" Suki said louder, breaking Chihiro out of her reverie.

"Our equipment's fine," Chihiro supplied automatically. "So where are we going to tonight?"

"I've been doing some research, and I think we should hit the Yoruko place," Jetu said.

Takare gasped. "Isn't that where a murder took place? I've heard some scary stories from kids who've tried to stay there the night."

"It was really tragic," Niko supplied. "The old woman, Rammi Yoruko, had lived there forever. A madman entered her house in broad daylight, and she was able to hide from him for a little bit, while waiting for the police to get there. Unfortunately, the madman, named Ugiru Pokamu, found Yoruko hiding in her bedroom closet and killed her. He didn't get away with it though, for just as he was about to flee the house, the police decended upon him and killed him in a shoot out. He died in the very house were he commited his murder. Legend has it that both Pokamu and Yoruko still haunt the house to this very day. There are some who believe that his spirit is still able to harm the living, but that Yoruko's spirit guards the closet where she died."

Jetu snorted in reply. "Amateurs. We're prepared to find what we're looking for, and they weren't, they were just a bunch of sissies."

"Still, we have to be careful," Chihiro cautioned. Many spirits still have attachments to their old life, and the emotions to go with it."

Finally, they all agreed to go check out the Yoruko place, on the condition that if anything felt wrong or off, they would leave. So they gathered all their equipment and set off. It was dusk by the time they reached the property, which was set off a ways from the main road connecting it to the driveway. It didn't look like a typical haunted house, in that the yellow paint on it was still bright, the windows were still intact save for a few holes here and there, and the grounds weren't overtaking the house as might have been expected. "See, nothing to worry about," Jetu said, gesturing towards the house. "Come on!"

Once inside, however, Chihiro felt that something was wrong, though she couldn't put her finger on it. It was simply a feeling of unease. She didn't say anything though; maybe it was just her nerves? The five teens wandered from room to room, trying to pick up anything unusual. In one particular bedroom, Chihrio felt drawn to the closet. The door was closed, but she opened it to look inside. There was nothing but darkness within, and she was surprised to find no light switch. Pausing, she tried to reach out with her senses. Was she imagining things, or was there a slight breeze coming from somewhere in that closet? This must be the closet where Yoruko had died. The atmosphere of the closet was familiar, though. Where had she felt like this before? And then, she had it. It was a portal to the spirit world! The desire to go in took hold of her instantly, but she fought off the urge. She couldn't just leave her friends without letting them know where she was going. Perhaps later, she would bring them all to the closet so that they could see for themselves. So, she closed the door again and went to rejoin the others. After several hours, and darkness had fallen, Chihiro thought that maybe her initial fears were unfounded.

Then, all the equipment and flashlights went dark, and there was a low chuckling emanating from somewhere in the house which made the hairs stand on the back of everyone's neck. "What happened to our stuff?" Suki asked quietly.

"The spirit is drawing energy from the equipment in order to manifest," Jetu replied.

Niko, ever the rash one, spoke out. "Madame Yoruko, we mean you no harm. Please show us a sign that you understand."

A low gravelly voice replied, "And who said that I was Yoruko, boy?"

"Niko," Chihiro said in a warning tone, "I don't think we should be here any longer." She could feel the evil emminating from the spirit, and her instincts were telling her to get out of there.

"And what do we have here?" the spirit asked with curiosity. "Another mortal who can sense spirits, like Yoruko could? How unexpected. Oh, killing you is going to be a real treat."

"Killing?" Tarake squeaked.

"Run!" Chihiro cried out, and they all followed her without question. But just as they reached the front door, it slammed in their faces.

"Ah, ah, ah!" the spirit laughed giddily. "You're not going to escape me quite that easily. Haven't you heard? I run this house now. Now, why don't we play a game of hide and seek. Try to hide from me as long as you can little mortals. Ha ha ha ha!" It was then that bright red eyes glowed from the darkness, making everyone scream and run again.

Chihiro was frightened. She knew the evil spirit was talking about her when he'd mentioned someone being able to sense spirits. It was why she had joined the ghost hunting group in the first place. This crazy spirit meant to kill her, just like it had killed Yoruko! The thought that there had been another human with her ability to sense spirits intrigued her, but that was the furthest thought in her mind right now. She had to get her and her friends to safety, but they were trapped in this house! And then, she had it. "Follow me, everyone, I know where we'll be safe!"

When they reached the bedroom, and the closet, in particular, Jetu cried out, "The closet, of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Chihiro merely bit her lip. She couldn't tell them what else the closet was, or they might not go in, and die as a result. She felt bad, knowing that there might be no way for her friends to get back to the human world once they were on the other side, but what choice did she have? She herself had been wanting to go back to the spirit world for years now, only the original place where she and her parents had found it before had mysteriously disappeared when Chihiro tried to find not long after the adventure. And while Chihiro's parents had died in a car crash two years earlier, leaving her with no real family to worry about, she didn't want her friends to have to leave their homes and loved ones behind forever. Still, the alternative was far more frightening at the moment, and she vowed to herself that once in the spirit world, she would do everything she could to help her friends find their way back home.

As the teens all rushed into the closet, they could hear the evil spirit cry out in rage, "Nooooo!"

"Close the door behind us!" Chihiro shouted as they all ran into the darkened closet. Takare, the last one, did just that, but what she didn't know was that the door didn't quite close all the way.

"Shouldn't we have reached the back of the closet by now?" Niko asked, panic in his voice.

"I don't like this at all," Suki whined.

"We have no choice," Chihiro pointed out. "Would you rather face that murderous spirit?"

"Good point," Suki sighed. Then, "Wait, I think I see light up ahead. Thank goodness!"

Sure enough, there was a light, and it was getting brighter by the second. All of a sudden, the group popped out into a large area. The ceiling was high up, and there were tall columns everywhere. That was when they noticed the strangest thing of all. People made of shadows were all around them. "What _is_ this place?" Jetu asked.

Chihiro was elated; she'd found it, she'd really found it again! "I'm pretty sure we're in the spirit world."

"Why would you think that?" Takare asked.

"Because I've been here before, eight years ago."

"What?!" they all exclaimed.

"Why do you all think that I can sense the presence of spirits when we go places? Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the story, but I didn't think you'd believe it all."

"Wow, Chihiro. That's incredible!" Niko cried out. "This is incredible! The spirit world! Now we can get all the answers we've been searching for."

"It's not that simple," she said. "Humans like us are not exactly welcome in the spirit world. And if we don't eat something from this world, we'll soon disappear. It almost happened to me the last time I was here."

"But how are we going to get back home?" Suki asked.

"It will be really difficult, but I promise to help you guys get back as soon as possible. But you have to promise to listen to what I tell you. Things don't work here the same as in our world. Now let's try to find something to eat. Does anyone have any coins?"

The five of them rumaged through what little belongings they managed to have on them and came up with almost twenty different coins. After that, they began looking around for somewhere with food. Right away, Chihiro noticed that the place they were in looked similar to the train station she and her parents had traveled through on their first trip to the spirit world. Sure enough, a whistle of a train was heard close by.

"They have trains here?" Takare asked.

"Yup. And we'll have to be on one, but I'll have to ask which is the right one." Soon, Chihiro spotted a small booth where a shadow spirit seemed to be selling food of some kind. She approached the shadow spirit. "Um, excuse me," she began.

"Yes? Would you care to buy some Hata bird and noodles?" the spirit asked pleasantly. Chihiro glanced at the bowls and noted that the concoction looked not unlike udon soup. The meat itself was blue, but it smelled delicious.

"I'm surprised that you didn't tell me that I stank," she remarked, producing some of the coins, which purchased her two soups.

The spirit laughed and replied, "We shadow spirits are new to this world, so we don't notice the smell of mortals as strongly. Still, you all must be careful here. There are spirits who don't take to kindly to your ilk."

"Yeah, I remember. Here, guys, we'll just have to share for now. We'll need the rest of that money to buy us train tickets."

"And where might you want to head to?" the food vendor asked curiously.

"Do you know which train stops at Yubaba's Bathhouse?"

The spirit looked taken aback at that and asked, "Now why in the world would you want to go _there_? Yubaba's a powerful witch and she doesn't have the best patience for humans."

"Me and Yubaba go way back. I'll be fine, thanks though."

"Very well. You'll want the train that leaves at 8 o'clock sharp. The ticket booth is right over there," he pointed to their right.

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, and good luck."

"Come on guys, eat up while I get us some tickets," she said, grabbing a bite for herself first so that she wouldn't disappear. After using the last of the money to get the tickets they would need, she joined the others.

"I don't get it, Chihiro," Suki stated. "Why are we going to this witch if she doesn't like humans?"

"I used to work for her, and if she's still the same old Yubaba that I remember, she'll be too greedy to pass up the offer I have in mind in return for her help in getting you guys back home."

"And what plan is that?"

But just then, Chihiro glanced up at the large clock on the wall. "Oh my gosh, it's almost eight. Hurry up everyone, we have to get to the platform, or the train will leave without us!" So they all rushed over and got on the train heading to the place where Chihiro had last seen the boy who'd haunted her dreams over the years.

_Back in the Yoruko house-_

The evil spirit was fuming. "That filthy little witch found the door to the portal! I should have known! Now what do I do?" It just so happened that right then, his red eyes caught the small movement of breeze moving the closet door slightly. A malicious grin broke over his face. "Well, well, what do we have here? Perhaps I can catch up to her after all. You can run, but you can't hide..."


End file.
